Brett Cooper, commander of the U.S. Central Command, CENTCOM, said that with the support of U.S. Army forces, more than one billion barrels of crude oil from Gulf countries has passed through the Strait of Hormuz in recent months. He added that during the same period, the Iranian government has exported no oil from this strait due to the blockade imposed by the United States.

The CENTCOM commander said in a video published in the X account of the command on Saturday, 28 Shahrivar, that American forces supported the passage of more than two thousand commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz in recent months, and that the main shipping routes in this strait have been cleared of mines.

Cooper said that the volume of cargoes of crude oil and liquefied natural gas that passed in the past two weeks has been higher than in any other period in the past six months.

He added that CENTCOM is working with six member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council and shipping and insurance companies to increase traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, and at the same time is strengthening air defenses with regional partners and forming a new coalition unit to counter attacking drones.